Friends of NASA (FoN) is an independent non-governmental organization (NGO) dedicated to building international support for peaceful space exploration, commerce, scientific discovery, and STEM education.
NASA's Artemis I Orion Spacecraft Looks Back at Earth
On flight day 7, Nov. 22, 2022, Orion used a camera mounted on the tip of one of its four solar arrays to capture images of our home planet Earth when it was more than 200,000 miles away.
Artemis I Mission Update for Flight Day 10: Flight Controllers in the White Flight Control Room at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston successfully performed a burn on Nov. 25, 2022, to insert Orion into a distant retrograde orbit by firing the orbital maneuvering system engine for 1 minutes and 28 seconds at 4:52 p.m. CST, propelling the spacecraft at 363 feet per second.
The first in a series of increasingly complex missions, Artemis I is an uncrewed flight test that will provide a foundation for human deep space exploration. It will demonstrate NASA's commitment and capability to extend human existence to the Moon and beyond. Orion is completing a 25-day test of all key systems. It will travel 280,000 miles from Earth, thousands of miles beyond the Moon. Orion will stay in space longer than any ship for astronauts has done without docking to a space station and return home faster and hotter than ever before.
On the Artemis III Mission, NASA will land the first woman and the first person of color on the surface of the Moon, paving the way for a long-term lunar presence and serving as a steppingstone on the way to Mars.
NASA's Artemis I Orion Spacecraft Looks Back at 'Blue Marble' Earth
On Flight Day 9, NASA’s Orion spacecraft captured imagery looking back at the Earth from a camera mounted on one of its solar arrays. The spacecraft is enroute to distant retrograde orbit of the Moon.
The first in a series of increasingly complex missions, Artemis I is an uncrewed flight test that will provide a foundation for human deep space exploration. It will demonstrate NASA's commitment and capability to extend human existence to the Moon and beyond. Orion is completing a 25-day test of all key systems. It will travel 280,000 miles from Earth, thousands of miles beyond the Moon. Orion will stay in space longer than any ship for astronauts has done without docking to a space station and return home faster and hotter than ever before.
On the Artemis III Mission, NASA will land the first woman and the first person of color on the surface of the Moon, paving the way for a long-term lunar presence and serving as a steppingstone on the way to Mars.
NASA's Astronaut Snoopy at Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade in New York City
NASA employees, Brandon Hancock, left, Whitney Sheppard, Corinne Edmiston, and Ashley Nelson, right, lead Astronaut Snoopy balloon as it floats along in the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade
Snoopy hitches ride to space aboard Artemis I
The Astronaut Snoopy balloon as it floats along in the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade on, Thursday, Nov. 24, 2022, in New York City. The Astronaut Snoopy balloon is flying in New York City at the same time that Snoopy also flies around the Moon in the Orion spacecraft as a zero gravity indicator for the Artemis I mission.
Thanksgiving is a federal holiday in the United States, celebrated on the fourth Thursday of November. It is sometimes called American Thanksgiving (outside the United States) to distinguish it from the Canadian holiday of the same name and related celebrations in other regions.
NASA has shared an association with Charles M. Schulz and Snoopy since the Apollo missions and the relationship continues under Artemis. Snoopy was selected as the zero-gravity indicator for the flight because of the inspiration and excitement the character has provided for human spaceflight for more than 50 years.
Waxing Gibbous Moon above Indian Ocean | International Space Station
The waxing gibbous Moon is pictured from the International Space Station as it orbited 271 miles above the Indian Ocean southwest of Australia's island state of Tasmania.
Expedition 68 Crew
Station Commander Sergey Prokopyev of Roscosmos (Russia)
Roscosmos (Russia): Flight Engineers Anna Kikina & Dmitri Petelin
NASA: Flight Engineers Nicole Mann, Frank Rubio & Josh Cassada
JAXA (Japan): Flight Engineer Koichi Wakata
An international partnership of space agencies provides and operates the elements of the International Space Station (ISS). The principals are the space agencies of the United States, Russia, Europe, Japan, and Canada. The ISS has been the most politically complex space exploration program ever undertaken.
Flight Day 6: A camera mounted on one of Orion’s solar array wings captures Earth as it sets behind the Moon ahead of the outbound powered flyby on Nov. 21, 2022, an approximately 2 minute, 30 second burn that committed the spacecraft to a distant retrograde orbit.
The first in a series of increasingly complex missions, Artemis I is an uncrewed flight test that will provide a foundation for human deep space exploration. It will demonstrate NASA's commitment and capability to extend human existence to the Moon and beyond. Orion is completing a 25-day test of all key systems. It will travel 280,000 miles from Earth, thousands of miles beyond the Moon. Orion will stay in space longer than any ship for astronauts has done without docking to a space station and return home faster and hotter than ever before.
On the Artemis III Mission, NASA will land the first woman and the first person of color on the surface of the Moon, paving the way for a long-term lunar presence and serving as a steppingstone on the way to Mars.
Orion continues to travel farther away from the Moon as it prepares to enter a distant retrograde orbit. The orbit is “distant” in the sense that it is at a high altitude from the surface of the Moon, and it is “retrograde” because Orion will travel around the Moon opposite the direction the Moon travels around Earth.
The first in a series of increasingly complex missions, Artemis I is an uncrewed flight test that will provide a foundation for human deep space exploration. It will demonstrate NASA's commitment and capability to extend human existence to the Moon and beyond. Orion is completing a 25-day test of all key systems. It will travel 280,000 miles from Earth, thousands of miles beyond the Moon. Orion will stay in space longer than any ship for astronauts has done without docking to a space station and return home faster and hotter than ever before.
On the Artemis III Mission, NASA will land the first woman and the first person of color on the surface of the Moon, paving the way for a long-term lunar presence and serving as a steppingstone on the way to Mars.
NASA's Artemis I Orion Spacecraft and The Crescent Moon
On the eighth day of the Artemis I mission, a camera mounted on one of Orion’s solar arrays captured the spacecraft and the Moon. Orion continues to travel farther away from the Moon as it prepares to enter a distant retrograde orbit. The orbit is “distant” in the sense that it is at a high altitude from the surface of the Moon, and it is “retrograde” because Orion will travel around the Moon opposite the direction the Moon travels around Earth.
The first in a series of increasingly complex missions, Artemis I is an uncrewed flight test that will provide a foundation for human deep space exploration. It will demonstrate NASA's commitment and capability to extend human existence to the Moon and beyond. Orion is completing a 25-day test of all key systems. It will travel 280,000 miles from Earth, thousands of miles beyond the Moon. Orion will stay in space longer than any ship for astronauts has done without docking to a space station and return home faster and hotter than ever before.
On the Artemis III Mission, NASA will land the first woman and the first person of color on the surface of the Moon, paving the way for a long-term lunar presence and serving as a steppingstone on the way to Mars.
NASA's Space to Ground: It's a Feast | Week of Nov. 25, 2022
NASA's Space to Ground is your weekly update on what's happening aboard the International Space Station. Four Expedition 68 astronauts will relax on Thanksgiving Day as three cosmonauts continue preparing for a spacewalk on Friday. The International Space Station residents are also expecting a space delivery this weekend bringing new roll-out solar arrays and science experiments.
Happy Thanksgiving from the International Space Station!
Thanksgiving is a federal holiday in the United States, celebrated on the fourth Thursday of November. It is sometimes called American Thanksgiving (outside the United States) to distinguish it from the Canadian holiday of the same name and related celebrations in other regions.
Expedition 68 Crew
Station Commander Sergey Prokopyev of Roscosmos (Russia)
Roscosmos (Russia): Flight Engineers Anna Kikina & Dmitri Petelin
NASA: Flight Engineers Nicole Mann, Frank Rubio & Josh Cassada
JAXA (Japan): Flight Engineer Koichi Wakata
An international partnership of space agencies provides and operates the elements of the International Space Station (ISS). The principals are the space agencies of the United States, Russia, Europe, Japan, and Canada. The ISS has been the most politically complex space exploration program ever undertaken.
Happy Thanksgiving from the International Space Station!
Check in with NASA astronauts Frank Rubio, Josh Cassada, Nicole Mann, and JAXA astronaut Koichi Wakata to learn more about what the holiday means to them—and get a look at what Thanksgiving in space is like!
Thanksgiving is a federal holiday in the United States, celebrated on the fourth Thursday of November. It is sometimes called American Thanksgiving (outside the United States) to distinguish it from the Canadian holiday of the same name and related celebrations in other regions.
Expedition 68 Crew
Station Commander Sergey Prokopyev of Roscosmos (Russia)
Roscosmos (Russia): Flight Engineers Anna Kikina & Dmitri Petelin
NASA: Flight Engineers Nicole Mann, Frank Rubio & Josh Cassada
JAXA (Japan): Flight Engineer Koichi Wakata
An international partnership of space agencies provides and operates the elements of the International Space Station (ISS). The principals are the space agencies of the United States, Russia, Europe, Japan, and Canada. The ISS has been the most politically complex space exploration program ever undertaken.
NASA's Artemis I Orion: NAVCAM "Low-res Black & White" Moon Images
On the sixth day of the Artemis I mission, Nov. 21, 2022, Orion’s optical navigation camera captured black-and-white images of craters on the Moon below. Orion uses the optical navigation camera to capture imagery of the Earth and the Moon at different phases and distances, providing an enhanced body of data to certify its effectiveness under different lighting conditions as a way to help orient the spacecraft on future missions with crew.
The first in a series of increasingly complex missions, Artemis I is an uncrewed flight test that will provide a foundation for human deep space exploration. It will demonstrate NASA's commitment and capability to extend human existence to the Moon and beyond. Orion is completing a 25-day test of all key systems. It will travel 280,000 miles from Earth, thousands of miles beyond the Moon. Orion will stay in space longer than any ship for astronauts has done without docking to a space station and return home faster and hotter than ever before.
On the Artemis III Mission, NASA will land the first woman and the first person of color on the surface of the Moon, paving the way for a long-term lunar presence and serving as a steppingstone on the way to Mars.
NASA's Artemis I Moon Mission: All Access | Episode 2 | JSC
Artemis All Access - Episode 2: On the eighth day of its mission, Nov. 23, 2022, Orion continues to travel farther away from the Moon as it prepares to enter a distant retrograde orbit. The orbit is “distant” in the sense that it is at a high altitude from the surface of the Moon, and it is “retrograde” because Orion will travel around the Moon opposite the direction the Moon travels around Earth.
Orion exited the gravitational sphere of influence of the Moon Tuesday, Nov. 22, at 9:49 p.m. CST at a lunar altitude of 39,993 miles. The spacecraft will reach its farthest distance from the Moon Friday, Nov. 25, just before performing the next major burn to enter the orbit. The distant retrograde orbit insertion burn is the second in a pair of maneuvers required to propel Orion into the highly stable orbit that requires minimal fuel consumption while traveling around the Moon.
Artemis All Access is your look at the latest in Artemis I, the people and technology behind the mission, and what is coming up next. This uncrewed flight test around the Moon will pave the way for a crewed flight test and future human lunar exploration as part of Artemis.
Live coverage of major events will air on NASA Television, the NASA app, and the agency’s website at www.nasa.gov/live
Learn more about the mission and track the Orion Spacecraft’s current position at www.nasa.gov/trackartemis/
Are There Rivers and Lakes on Other Worlds? We Asked a NASA Scientist
Are there rivers and lakes on other worlds? You bet. Just like Earth, Saturn’s moon Titan is home to these fairly unique features, except these lakes and rivers aren’t filled with water. Dr. Sarah Hörst spills the science tea: https://go.nasa.gov/2QzAAIt
Leaving Earth for The Moon: NASA's Artemis I Orion Spacecraft
The Space Launch System rocket and the Orion spacecraft launched at 1:47am EST from Kennedy Space Center Launch Pad 39B on November 16, 2022. This is an uncrewed flight test that will demonstrate the ability of the SLS rocket to safely carry the Orion spacecraft around the Moon and its return and recovery to Earth for the agency’s Artemis Program. Orion is completing a 25-day test flight of all key systems as part of the Artemis I mission.
Artemis I will demonstrate NASA's commitment and capability to extend human existence to the Moon and beyond. It will travel 280,000 miles from Earth, thousands of miles beyond the Moon. Orion will stay in space longer than any ship for astronauts has done without docking to a space station and return home faster and hotter than ever before.
On the Artemis III Mission, NASA will land the first woman and the first person of color on the surface of the Moon, paving the way for a long-term lunar presence and serving as a steppingstone on the way to Mars.
Sunset over Atlantic Ocean | International Space Station
The sun's last rays illuminate Earth's thin atmosphere during an orbital sunset in this photograph from the International Space Station as it orbited 258 miles above the Atlantic Ocean.
Expedition 68 Crew
Station Commander Sergey Prokopyev of Roscosmos (Russia)
Roscosmos (Russia): Flight Engineers Anna Kikina & Dmitri Petelin
NASA: Flight Engineers Nicole Mann, Frank Rubio & Josh Cassada
JAXA (Japan): Flight Engineer Koichi Wakata
An international partnership of space agencies provides and operates the elements of the International Space Station (ISS). The principals are the space agencies of the United States, Russia, Europe, Japan, and Canada. The ISS has been the most politically complex space exploration program ever undertaken.
NASA’s Quiet Supersonic X-59: Jet Engine Installed | NASA Armstrong
The engine that will power NASA’s quiet supersonic X-59 in flight is installed, marking a major milestone in the experimental aircraft’s journey toward first flight. The installation of the F414-GE-100 engine at Lockheed Martin’s Skunk Works facility brings the vehicle close to the completion of its assembly, with NASA targeting flight in 2023. The engine packs 22,000 pounds of propulsion energy, and will power the X-59 in flight at speeds up to Mach 1.4, and altitudes up to 55,000 feet. The X-59 is designed to reduce the intensity of sonic booms, which occur when an aircraft flies at supersonic speeds, or, faster than the speed of sound.
For more information about NASA's quiet supersonic mission, visit: